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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Braelyn UpdatesHow Old: 10 MonthsMedical Updates: Weight: Height:Sleep: She likes her sleep for the most part, but we still had a handful of days this past month that she barely napped. She typically wakes around 6:30 for the day with a nap around 9 and another at 1. Each nap (on a good day) is 1 + hour. I do have her stay in her room for the first full hour because sometimes she wakes around 30 minutes, makes a little fuss, and then falls back asleep for another hour.Clothing/Diapers: She's wearing 9 or 12 month clothed. We are still using cloth diapers. We've moved onto a larger prefold that I fold and pin. This is helping to prevent leaks.Milestones: She pulls up to standing all the time. She doesn't even need both hands! She also ssys Dada, sometimes Mama, abd waves with a grin if you ask her to day hi :) She eats lots of different foods...I swear she eats better than I do. She eats oatmeal, quinoa, rice, avocado, sweet potato, golden potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, peas, green beans, zucchini, carrots, blueberries, apricots, banana, pears, peaches, plain organic yogurt, grapes, oranges, organic plain cheerios, and ground turkey. She pretty much self feeds now. I really like this because it allows her to learn how to pick small pieces of food up, chew, and heck I can be in the kitchen getting my food ready while she's next to me feeding herself. She also has 6 teeth, 2 on top and 4 on bottom. I also think she may have another coming in on top.

Mommy UpdatesPostpartum: 10 MonthsWeight: Under pre-pregnancy, but I'm working on getting muscle back, nutrition up, and some weight gained.Waist/belly: With my diastasis recti under control and healed, I am now working on toning the stomach. I've not had defined abs since like middle school. I can have a flat stomach, or one with a little 'pop' if I have juat eaten. This has been what my stomach is like for so long, I don't know if I'll get super defined abs (Neal doesn't like a 6 pack on women anyway - few!) I do notice that after toys last workout program I did for the past 3 weeks, I have a bit of that lower cut, which is cool!Best moments as a new mom: Her tickle giggles! I just love them! And she always laughs at me if I'm working out and jumping or making exasperated noises - those anyone might find funny!Hardest moments as a new mom: Working from home and having her with me all day makes it hard to sometimes feel like I'm doing a good enough job at either being a mom or building my business. I've gotten better about scheduling my time during her naps to focus on either Lively Happenings or Coaching, but sometimes it's hard to get all the work I'd like done if her naps are short or if I just have a lot of LH orders. I now just need to be content with what I can do and put the rest to bed for the day, coming back to it the next day.And of course, some more photos!

She stands ALL the time now :)

These were from our trip to the Zoo at the Splash Pad and the Sea Lion Show just sipping her water :)

Yes, she always wants to feed herself now...her favorite is banana...do not attempt to take away a banana.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

I wracked my brain over and over about what to do for my husband this year for Father's Day. And then I thought, okay now I have WAY too many options, so I'd like to share :)Here's 4 options for you - and you have time for ALL of these before Father's Day, Sunday June 21st!

DIY Projects you can do LAST MINUTE!

Yes, completely last minute projects for
all of us that are busy just trying to get through the day and then suddenly
realize…oops I need a gift!Here’s a few
to inspire you!

From a photo mug to personalized hand and
foot prints.

*Remember, when you are doing hand or feet
prints, tickle the back sides of the baby’s hand or foot to get them to open
them up for you!

I believe all of these shops are stocked
and ready for YOU to get a gift for your dad or husband in time for Father’s
Day!

One of my favorites from these sellers is“This
is what an awesome DAD looks like tee”.Even
more fun… the Train Play Mat T-Shirt.Want
something a little different? What about a wooden watch or some delicious
popcorn seasonings?Or get him a beard
grooming kit (I’m a sucker for my husband when he has a nice soft beard…I know
you may want your man freshly shaved – no judgment!)

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Medical Updates: She weighs about 17.4 lbs and I don't have her height because I keep forgetting to take it...doy! (was 16.8 at 8 months & 28 inches at 8 months)

Sleep: Well this one has changed month by month. When she was 7 months, in April, she was sleeping like a champ until we 'moved' to the apartment in Louisville. She was then sleeping in a pack n play and had to re-adjust. At 8 months, during the month of May, she was finally taking naps, except for a few days when she cut teeth. She would take 45 min - 2 hour naps two times a day. We've been on a semi-schedule where she wakes up and a little less than 2 hours later, is ready for a nap. After that nap, it's about 3 hours later and she's ready for another nap. Then between 5:30 - 6 we start going through 'night night' routine with a meal, bath, milk & cuddles. She typically goes down around 7 and was staying asleep until just after midnight for some milk & cuddles and then getting up around 6/6:30. VERY recently, she's pushed back to getting up around 2am and then closer to 7am. Back in the early 7 month range though, she was sleeping THROUGH the night - like completely 6:30 PM - 7 am...it was awesome. *sigh*

Clothing/Diapers: She's wearing her 9 month + clothes with an exception of a few 3-6 month pieces that are tops only We are still using cloth diapers. Instead of pinning them, around 8.5 months I was able to start tri-folding them. We haven't moved into the next size up yet in the prefolds. I am going to try to extend the life of these original ones for as long as I can I think.

Milestones: Around month 7 she began to roll from her back to her stomach. Then around 7.5 months, she was scooting. Now at 9 months she's certainly crawling and even very recently began pulling herself up from sitting to standing. She eats lots of different foods...I swear she eats better than I do. She eats oatmeal, quinoa, avocado (doesn't love it but tolerates it), sweet potato, golden potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, peas, green beans, zucchini, carrots, blueberries, apricots, banana, pears, peaches, and just the other day I introduced plain organic yogurt. I am making all of her foods. I'm currently pureeing them, but she's gotten that pincer grasp going well and will grab foods if they drop on her tray. She also has FOUR teeth, 1 on top and 3 on bottom. I just saw the 3rd on bottom for the first time today, I had NO idea it was coming in! I think I see another on bottom coming gin and possibly the other top one coming in!

Mommy Updates

Postpartum: 9 Months

Weight: Right around pre-pregnancy weight.

Waist/belly My diastasis recti is under control for what I need to feel comfortable working out. I've learned how to engage my core. I don't feel separation if I am engaging my core and still have about the same amount of separation I had at 6 month, 1 finger. My coach told me that could possibly just be my norm, but I never tested it before pregnancy to know for certain.

Best moments as a new mom: Her saying 'Dada' around 8.5 moths is pretty cool. I'm not sure how much she associates it with Neal at this time. She's super talkative and will now interact more with myself and others, clapping and waving and just talking away!

Hardest moments as a new mom: Moving with a baby is tough. So just being patient and realizing I will not be able to get all that I want done because I'm on her schedule is sometimes hard for me as I'm a go getter - I want it done now. So learning to slow down and take everything in smaller steps is my challenge.

Monday, March 2, 2015

I can hardly believe Braelyn turned 1/2 a year old yesterday! It's so crazy to me to see her grow day by day and look back from when she was an itty bitty newborn...oh how I miss it, but am loving the growth!

Braelyn UpdatesHow Old: 6 Months

Medical Updates: She weighs about 14.8 lbs when they weighed her at daycare 2 weeks ago. She'll get weighed again this Friday at her 6 month checkup.

Sleep: She was a champ at night time sleeping for all but about 1 week this past month. That 1 week, she was teething and it was just not easy. I was miserable, and so was she. But alas, we got through it and each time I'm learning some more soothing techniques for her. This past time, I used Punkin Butt oil on her along with the Hyland's Teething Tablets after reading some suggestions from a mom group I follow on Facebook.

Clothing/Diapers: She's wearing her 6-9 months clothes for the most part with a handful of 3-6 month pieces. She's still tall, but we'll find out how tall in comparison at her Dr. appointment this Friday. I ordered the cloth diapers I was obessing over in her last month post and I just got an email saying they have shipped - YAY! I can't wait! We're still really loving cloth. My father and his wife even commented about how it was so much easier than they thought it would be when they came in last month to help out with her while Neal was in Seattle for work training.

Milestones: She's really getting ready to roll from her back to her stomach. When she really wants something, she'll roll onto her side from her back. If I'm holding her when she's on her belly, she can then lift up onto her knees and put her weight onto her arms. She then rocks and moves her little knees a tiny bit...crawling around the corner!? She's really grabbing everything in sight. She has a favorite toy, her lion, that she will grab if she has the option between a few toys. She also likes to grab onto my water or coffee cup and put her mouth on the rim. I bought her the next Avent Natural design cup sippy cup and have put water in it for her try when she's eating solids...oh yea...she's eating some solids! About 1 week before she officially turned 6 months, I started feeding her (she was 5 day's over her due date, so really it's her 6 months gestational). We started with baby rice cereal (didn't care for that), butternut squash (loves that), and now we're trying peas (she's okay with them, but not in love).

Mommy Updates

Postpartum: 6 Months

Weight: Right around pre-pregnancy weight.

Waist/belly My diastasis recti is about 1 finger width apart. I didn't work out much at all between 5-6 months postpartum due to sickness, then lack of sleep from Braelyn teething, but I did get in my Knocked Up Fitness Postpartum DVD's and have done some of the workouts and am really loving them because I do not have to think twice about if they are okay for my diastasis recti. Erica is a great instructor. I highly recommend her DVD's prenatal and postpartum as she's great at reminding you to work your deep core muscles and pelvic floor - keeping you safe pre and post natal.

Best moments as a new mom: Just seeing her grow and become more and more interactive. It's the best.

Hardest moments as a new mom: Nap training. This has been so hard and sad. We are trying to get her to nap in her crib rather than on mom and dad during the weekends. During the weekdays, daycare is trying to get her to nap in her crib rather then in a bouncer or swing. I know, I know, we should have started this MONTHS ago, but I LOVE TO HOLD HER. I do notice a big difference in her attitude when she sleeps in her crib for naps vs sleeping on me or in a swing/bouncer. She really is so much nicer, happier, and just content.

And for me, harder than nap training is milk supply. My supply goes down easily if I am sick or stressed - both of which happened a lot this last month. Work is legit killing my supply. It's terrible. I've never had more work since being with the company. I even put Lively Happenings on Etsy on vacation because I just need time in the evenings to complete work that I can't get done before getting Braelyn from daycare. It's just nuts. I've never been more unhappy than I was last week because I was SO stressed about my milk supply going down, and that stress was coming from work stress and it was just an all out nightmare. We survived, my supply is back up and I didn't go too much into my freezer stash of milk. But gosh, it's just hard. I really hate worrying about pumping and if I'm pumping enough and then crying each time I do because I'm not getting as much as she needs me to send to daycare. I even ate tons of oats, drank lots of mother's milk tea, and tried to de-stress, but I just couldn't de-stress. Today's not much better, but I'm consciously trying to not let all of the tasks piling up on my plate overcome me as much as I allowed them to do last week. My supply, thankfully has been amazing these last few days, so I'm hoping that will continue...now if only work could be amazing and not so hard :)

And some photos from the month of February where she went from 5 months to officially 6 months (HALF A YEAR!) on March 1st :)

She LOVES the bouncer!

Such a cutie :)

Practicing sitting up and playing with toys using our boppy

Taking as many selfies as I can with her while she still lets me :)

TRYING FOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME

She loved butternut squash

She'd rather eat her bib than her rice cereal

Taking her 6 Month Photos:

Daddy's Valentine's Day Gift

First time sledding...she hated it!

And lastly, the cutest sleeping baby...we don't let her nap often in the rock n play anymore, but sometimes she just drifts off and I'm not moving her :)

Who is Tamara Lee!?

Hi! I am a 20 something who wants to share some of my passions with you!
I work in the IT field from home full time. When I am not working I am designing for my Etsy shop, working out, crafting & spending time with my family.
God has blessed me with a wonderful husband, family, and friends.
I hope ya'll find my blog fun and inspirational!
For any questions, contact me: LivelyHappenings@gmail.com